Prisoner
by Prime627
Summary: He knows three things: He's Tarn's prisoner, the medic is someone he knows, and his name is Starscream. He doesn't know how long he's been here, how long he will stay here, or if he could ever possibly get out.
1. Chapter 1

The Seeker was exhausted, dehydrated, and out of it in every way. His optics were dull and blurry, cracked and marred with tiny, tiny scratches. The skinny frame was dented and damaged so that if his family saw him, it would take several sparkbeats to recognize him. In fact, whenever he was wheeled by something reflective, he could barely recognize himself staring back in the reflection. He would scare himself, his spark-rate ratchetting up several beats per minute. He would dig his claws into the wheel chair's armrest, clutching the battered leather until more padding fell out onto the floor. His optics would squeeze shut and his breath would hitch, and then he would relax, slowly and gradually with every breath he took.

He would pray every morning that the Autobots would find him, and then cry every night because they didn't. He wasn't sure why the Autobots would come for him, though. He very clearly bore the opposite faction's insignia, the one that probably got him into the whole mess. He hated it now, hated the face that marked him a Decepticon. He was learning to hate his faction, too. Only his faction would turn on its own members, invite insane bots into their ranks, namely Tarn and his DJD...

The mech was watching him now, his face blank and serious. His optics were molten-metal red, burning with rage. He had somehow angered the mech enough that he survived on nothing for three days and then was rewarded with purge from another mech. Only the Decepticons would treat innocent mechs this way...

"Tell me your...secrets..." Tarn tilted his helm slowly one way, then changed direction and tilted it the other way. He shifted once in his chair, slightly. It was hardly noticeable. Then it was quiet again. The Seeker wondered if Tarn could hear his spark throbbing painfully in his chamber. He prayed not. His spark-rate would give his fear away if his scent did not. Thankfully, he had been near water for years now, so his scent was probably masked. Tarn would only smell grime and dirt on his armor.

"Speak. I spared your vocalizer from damage. Speak. I need your secrets." Tarn got up quietly, and floated across the floor like a ghost, though the mech was huge and bulky. "Speak up!"

The Seeker watched him, his optics glazing over. His mind retreated into a far corner and he was only there mentally. The slap did not reach him. His sensors were dulled, fried from too much stimulation. The constant pain dulled his pain recognition and he was fading. Every time he went into the "box", it took longer for him to return.

The "box" was the back corner of his processor, where he would escape to when Tarn or his minions came to him to drag secrets he didn't have out of him. It was a small dark place the Seeker came to enjoy, and sometimes he would retreat to it whenever he remembered Tarn's voice, the pain, Tarn in general, pain...

"When are they coming for you? Surely you must be missed..." Tarn grabbed the Seeker's throat and lifted him high, right out of the wheel chair. Useless legs dangled feet off the floor.

Was he missed? No, he doubted that. Megatron had probably already replaced him, no doubt. He always seemed to, whenever he slipped up in the most minor of ways, but kept him around whenever he tried to gut the warlord. The Seeker often wondered what made his leader tick...

"No? What about the others, the opposite faction. You dealt with them often, yes? Doesn't the Prime notice your absense? Come on...I do not waste resources for _cannon fodder_! SPEAK!" Tarn shook him so hard, the Seeker worried for his spinal strut only minorly. He heard the cracks of his spinal vertebrae snapping and grinding off each other, but if his spinal cord was snapped, he didn't know. He didn't suppose he would know if it had snapped. His legs were useless, his wings were down, his arms might as well not be his own...

Did the Autobots notice his absense? He had helped the Autobots on occasion, in defiance. He wanted to give Megatron a message, but what that message was, he couldn't remember anymore...

Tarn threw him down and kicked him in the abdominal plating. The Seeker only made a weak gasp for breath, then laid still. "I need a medic," Tarn snapped into his comm.

Life-blood, something the Seeker had held onto for so long, seeped steadily out of him and further stained the floor. He didn't know a mech could bleed so much, but he supposed it was possible. When the medic arrived, all gentle and soft servos and words, he felt he had died. No medic was so soft, so tender...he fell asleep, or rather, passed out from Energon loss. Tarn snorted and walked out, but the medic remained, touching and patching where the wounds were worse.

This happened every week. Tarn would forget about his captive, remember him again and go to him. He would interrogate, accusing him of various things before beating him into oblivion for no reason other than to vent. And then a kind medic would come in and patch him up to the best of her ability before he was set back down on his little wheeled chair and stored back into his room, waiting for the cycle to begin again.

The medic bent over him, stroking his face. "Not many remember you..." She kept him updated, pressing him if he remembered how much time had passed. "People think you are dead..."

He came around slowly, thanking the AllSpark for the medic and her handy little IV drip of Energon. He gurgled gently.

"There's no one you know anymore, save me, but I guess my designation has slipped your mind."

He stared at her barely recognizable face. Did he recognize her? Not through all the haze, no...but somewhere, deep in his processor, a memory was tickled, all soft and warm...who was she?

"Come on..." She lifted him, surprisingly strong for her size, or he was so thin a tiny sparkling could balance him on a digit. "You're so heavy..." She sat him square on the chair and touched his helm, rubbing gently. He slumped into her servo, gurgling again. "Sounds like you have Energon in your throat..."

He almost always did. Somewhere along his time with Tarn, the mech ruptured something that caused internal bleeding, and resulted in the funny gurgling in his throat that burned and ached like the Pits...but the medic would always take care of that. A friendly tube would suck the Energon out of his throat and he would be fine for a couple days before the Energon leaked back in. If he ever got out, the Seeker reasoned as he looked fondly at the medic, he would need to escape with her.

"Open wide now," she whispered, the tube in her servo. The Seeker watched her face, trying to remember her. "Starscream, are you listening?"

With a jolt, he remembered his designation: Starscream, Prince of Vos, second in command, but no longer. Now he was Starscream, King of Nothing, or rather, just Starscream...he cried out, tears leaking down his cheeks and burning his optics. He lifted his arms and kneaded his face with his long claws, trying to get rid of the burning. The medic patted him gently, cooing and purring gentle words, but all Starscream could focus on was the pain and the burning. He wailed and that made room for the tube. He gagged on that, squirming and fussing until she removed it and patted him still.

"It's okay..it's okay. What hurt you, Starscream?"

He looked at her. The haze had gotten no better with his tears and he blinked, his lower lip uncertain of itself. He bit down into it and it bled.

The medic tutted and touched his face. "This is the most activity you have made since you went into your box...how do you feel? Can you speak?"

He looked at her dumbly. Speak? Did he remember the words? Did he remember his own language, when spoken? Would his vocalizer and glossa work together as a team, as good as they had before Tarn? Perhaps... "My..."

She leaned closer, her audio inches above his mouth. He had whispered, barely above audible. "What?" she rasped.

"My name..."

She made a strange sighing noise.

"Starscream..."

"Yes, your name is Starscream," she said and she lifted her helm. A smile cracked her faceplates in two, all her denta visible and shining in the dull light. Starscream felt another strange jolt in his spark. He knew this medic...he knew her...but who was she?

"Oh, Starscream," she sighed and she knelt by his helm, grabbing his servo. "This is good news..." She kissed his helm and helped him sit in his wheel chair again. "I..I have to tell someone. Don't worry. I'll be back, I promise." She hugged his neck and left before he could form his next question. The door swung in.

"Who..."

The door swung out again. It was one of those funny doors that never knew where closed was.

"Are..."

The door swung inward.

"You...?"

The door stilled, and Starscream was plunged into silence. Tears rolled down his faceplates and dangled at his chin. He dug his claws into the arm rests and tilted his helm back, but no sound was made. His vocalizer failed him in his grief.


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Starscream dreamed. He dreamed of warmth and of comfort. He dreamed he had a femme resting beside him, her servo rubbing his in a fond way. He dreamed she purred his name as she sat up and kissed his mouth, promising a quick return. In the dream, he had just closed his optics when the femme returned, two little sparklings in her arms.

One was mech, black and silver with bright red optics and a grin like his sire's. The other, a femme, was purple and black. Her optics were closed, but Starscream knew they would be red in the dream.

"This is Nightscream..." She lifted the mech, smiling when the mechling gave a shriek.

"Clever name," Starscream rasped as he sat up. "What's her name?"

"She's..."

The name was spoken as if under water. Starscream's smile faltered. "What?" The name was spoken again, but it was gargled, and then he was awake.

Tarn stood over him, smirking. "Good dream? Welcome to your nightmare." The mech stood straight and Starscream swallowed thickly. He was shackled to a cold metal slab, his helm secured so he faced Tarn. He couldn't move it, couldn't nod or shake his helm.

"If you could turn your helm, you would see my tools."

Torture devices. Starscream made a soft sound of fear. Tarn chuckled. "Oh, don't be afraid. If you tell me what I want to hear, I won't hurt you..."

Starscream opened his mouth to speak. He forced words to come to his glossa. "Decepticon...codes. I know...codes..."

"I don't want codes, cannon fodder!" Tarn slammed his fists down on the slab, rocking it. Starscream made a weak noise. Tarn disappeared from his sight and all Starscream could feel after that was agony as his wings were nearly ripped from his body.

"GIVE ME WHAT I WANT!"  
"I don't know what you want," Starscream sobbed, and then there was a burst of warm Energon as his wings were gone.

 **ooo**

"You took a lot of damage," the medic purred gently. She rubbed his helm, wiped his face clean. He closed his optics, scared to look at the ceiling. There, above him, were his precious wings. He heard the jangle of keys and the clink of chains, and he could move his peds. He curled into a ball as his helm was released and he wiped at his face with his long claws.

"Breathe a little, okay?" She took his face in her servos, kneeling. Red optics looked into his own and she smiled a little shaky grin he found he remembered...vaguely. He reached over with his servo and rested it on her cheek. "Hey..."

"Dreamed..." He focused on her, smiled at her surprise. "Dreamed."

"You dreamed?" She covered her mouth with her claws and smiled, her wings fluttering. She laughed a little and put her servos on her knees as she got up. "Good news! Oh, they'll be so happy...look, Starscream, I talked to a few buddies of mine, you know? And, uh, we're going to get you the sky."

Starscream stared at her in confusion. She was glancing at the door, her optics wide and wild. She was speaking code, and he couldn't understand. He whimpered a question, but she spoke over him.

"You like the sky. Remember how you, um, you, uh.." She bit her lip. He had that same bad habit of chewing his lip. He touched his mouth, feeling the scarred metal there. He bit his lip a lot. "We're gonna get you the sky...you're going to get your wings back. My carrier, she's really good with wings. Remember?"

He shook his helm wildly. He didn't follow what she was saying, and then the guards, feeling too much chatter had passed between them, came in to drag her out. Starscream didn't see her again for months.

Tarn abused him more and more, taking off claws and peeling paint with thin pieces of razor-sharp metal, but still Starscream didn't cough up what he wanted. He tried everything, codes, Decepticon secrets, but it seemed Tarn would only be satisfied by Starscream's secrets, and he couldn't remember if he had any...

He came to him again, tapping a thin rod against his pede to wake him up. Starscream tucked his mauled servos against his chest and whined weakly.

"Got anything you want to get off your chest?"

Starscream studied the thin rod. It was used on gladiators, he remembered. Memories of watching the gladiators when he was younger washed over him and he gasped as he remembered what happened to gladiators who didn't obey. Sure enough, Tarn waved an Insecticon prod threateningly. That could pump enough electricity into his system to shock his spark into inactivity. "I have a secret..."

"Go on..." Tarn knelt by his helm, running the thin rod almost fondly over his thigh. Starscream squirmed.

"I had two brothers," he rasped. He selected a memory he could actually recall. "Both younger...one of them pranked a lot. That's all he would do, was prank and tease..so one day, I got tired..." Starscream told this story once, to two Seekerlings he couldn't remember. They had laughed, but also learned a lesson. "I got tired of being pranked, so I pranked him. I was going to be in so much trouble if I confessed I was the one that hurt my brother, so I blamed it on our Keeper." He altered the memory slightly. He remembered blaming it on Thundercracker and the little Seekerling sobbing through his five-minute timeout. Starscream had felt terrible and he had let the Seekerling do whatever he wanted to him for months... "She was executed on the spot. My sire had no tolerance." His sire had been full of patience. "And he looked at me and said _Good job, Starscream. I'm proud of you for telling the truth._ " Starscream lifted his helm. "I killed someone with a lie...imagine what the truth could do to someone..."

Tarn sat back on his heels, thinking. "You want me to tell you what I want out of you."

Starscream gazed into his optics, his own red ones hard and cold. Tarn smirked and Starscream internally jerked.

"I want your spark."

Starscream watched him leave and watched the door do it's usual struggle to close before he allowed himself to weep. He was in the middle of a game he was going to lose. Tarn had no use for him, no desire to shake anything out of him. He was bored, and he had a toy to play with...and when he was done, he would kill him. He would kill Starscream, and the Seeker could do nothing to stop him.

 **ooo**

Starscream woke up with a jerk and a cry. Servos were touching his back. A voice, harder than the medic's, scolded him. "Stop squirming around. I'm assessing the damage. Primus, Starscream. What did you do to deserve this?"

The metal slab shifted as weight as added and there were grunts. Cold Energon splatted on his back and he shivered. Cool metal was laid down on his back and he turned his helm to see his mangled wings being matched up to his wounds.

A formerly pretty femme stood over him, her claws curled around his wings almost expertly. He watched her face, finding a resemblance. She looked like the pretty medic, the gentle one with the soft servos and kind words. He felt the want to like her, and he stayed as still as possible.

"Okay. I got good news and bad news. Good news is I can repair the damage. Bad news is, Tarn doesn't want me to. But if we're going to give you the sky, well..you're going to need your wings. So here's what I'm going to do..." She lowered her voice, coming around to his face. "I'm going to come back for you, and I'll bring some friends of mine, and when they come, we'll have a party. A celebration of sorts. You like parties, don't you? And when it's all over, I'll give you the sky and your wings. Deal?"

Starscream struggled to keep up. He wanted desperately to understand, but the words' meanings eluded him. He nodded, whimpering softly.

"It's okay to not understand yet...soon, you will, and you will be happy and pretty again." She rubbed his shoulder. "But it will take me a while...it will take me a very long while...don't lose hope."

Hope? He had lost that years ago. She was asking him to find it again? Yes, he told himself. He will find his hope and tough it out just a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer, he promised himself.

Just a little bit longer...


	3. Chapter 3

Time ran out for Starscream. Tarn flew into the room, humming a song. He pulled Starscream off the berth and plopped him into his wheel chair. He patted his helm and pushed him down the halls. He hummed all the way, walking at a near skip. All Starscream could do was not cry, and he barely accomplished that.

"Today's the day, Starscream," Tarn said as he parked the Seeker in front of a large array of knives, tools, prods...Tox-En laid, smoking slightly, at the end of the table, a small hammer resting beside it. Starscream recoiled and tried to shrink back in his chair, but Tarn wheeled him a little closer. "What'll it be? Stabbing? Poisoning? Infection? Or my favorite..." Tarn, apparently immune, lifted the Tox-En and purred. "Death by Tox-En!"

Starscream lowered his helm. He had hung on for weeks after the medic came to him and spoke to him about giving him the sky. For weeks, he gave Tarn secrets, told Tarn made-up stories on a whim, all for what? To die weeks later? Starscream felt cheated, betrayed... He felt defeated.

Tarn tutted and lifted a small knife, running his thumb over the blade. "How about a new game...how about we go from smallest to biggest, never skipping and never stopping until this-" he poked his chest "-spark-" he poked it again "-stops-" again, harder this time "-beating! Deal?"

Another deal...Starscream looked Tarn in the optic...and he nodded.

"Oh, I knew you would agree. You're such an agreeable mech, Starscream." He held the knife ready, smiled a little at Starscream, and carved into the mech's arm. Starscream tilted his helm back and let it happen, a small, cruel smile twisting his faceplates.

 **ooo**

Tarn stepped back to look at what he had created, his servos sticky with Energon. Starscream sat in front of him, a ghost of a smirk on his lips, his arms carved into, his chest completely open to reveal his rapidly pulsing spark, his innards spilling out down his front...it was a lovely sight. All that remained were his legs, and for those, he saved the bigger tools...

Starscream was fading in and out of consciousness, and that was no good. Tarn commed for a medic, and he watched the delicate little femme walk in. "There you are, Starburst..."

The femme caught sight of the Seeker and she gagged, her optics wide and watering. She stared at Tarn. "You're killing him."

"Yeah, that was the point." He got up from carving his legs open in a pretty design. He touched her cheek with his Energon-wet servo. "I need you to keep him alive. An Energon transfusion. Can you do that?"

"He's losing too much Energon. The transfusion will kill us...both..." She blinked wearily at Tarn. "Okay..."

"Keep the blue flowing, love," he purred as he knelt back down. Another cut severed a vein. "Better hurry. He's fading fast."

"Okay, okay!" Starburst opened her supplies and lifted a thin tube with needles on both ends. She inserted one into Starscream's wrist, then did the same to her own wrist. She stood beside the mech while her Energon dripped into Starscream, keeping him just barely alive.

While Tarn worked on him, she stroked his helm. "I was going to give you the sky, but it seems we'll be in a different realm soon..."

Starscream looked at her slowly. "Starburst?" He frowned at the name. He remembered it, vaguely.

"Yeah," she whispered. She picked at her arm, sighing. "Yeah...Mama thought it was cute."

Starscream's helm lolled, his optics dim as he watched her. She knelt so they could look into each other's optics, her arm still raised so her Energon seeped into his systems and out onto the floor. "Like the candy..."

"Yeah," she laughed. She covered her mouth with her other servo, shaking her helm. "Mama...thought it was cute," she repeated, not knowing what else to say.

"Very...cute," Starscream rasped, wincing. Tarn cut behind his knee and he hissed through his denta. "And...familiar...I..."

"Starscream, hush...you really shouldn't be talking."

"Oh, let him talk, Starburst!" Tarn swatted her thigh, leaving a servo-print. Starburst shuddered.

"I know you," he said softly. He winced again and this time cried out. Tarn smirked down at the mess he was making of the Seeker.

"Probably," she whispered. "You knew me a long time ago, back when I was tiny..."

The dream floated back to him, the face of the femme becoming clearer and more familiar each time he racked his processor for the memories. He _knew_ who these femmes were, but his processor was blanking on him, throwing him down dead-ends and giving him false clues until he finally caught up. He gasped, but this time it wasn't from the pain. He grabbed at the femme, hard. His remaining claws on his left servo curled around her wrist.

"Starburst..."

She watched his servo.

"I know you." He smiled at an uncovered memory of a little sparkling curled on his chest, one servo in her mouth, her big red optics watching him. Tears crusted on her face and she waved her injured servo at him, whimpering. He had kissed it. She had laughed and curled tighter into him. _He bit her_ , Starscream remembered and he looked at her, then at her left servo. He released her wrist in favor of her servo, raising it to his optics and squinting hard at the metal.

There, a thin half-circle defining sharp denta he had given to one of his Seekerlings, a son, stood out, silver on black between her thumb and index digit.

"Brothers suck," she whispered and she pulled her servo back, sighing. She avoided his optics.

"He didn't mean it," Starscream purred. He reached out and stroked her helm in a familiar way, his optics dimming. Her Energon wasn't coming to him fast enough, wasn't replacing the Energon he was losing. He whined and let his helm slump as the darkness crept into his vision. He fought it hard, struggling to stay awake. Beside him, Starburst shook his shoulder and cried his name.

He swore he heard Vector Prime call his name louder.

 **ooo**

Tarn sat back on his heels. "That's depressing. We didn't even get to the Tox-En."

Starburst rounded on him. "You killed him!"

"Surprise," he said as he got up, looking at his servos and the mess he made. "Mind doing a little clean up, darling?"

"I hate you," she spat. "He was my sire."

"Wow, I'm shocked." He walked to the lone sink in the corner of the room. "Color me unimpressed."

Starburst went back to shaking Starscream. "Sire? Sire! Starscream, come on, please..." She bit her lip and hugged his neck. "But...we were so close..." She nuzzled his helm. "So very close...to getting you the sky...and you were going to be happy and safe and...what am I going to tell Mama?"

Tarn snorted as he cleaned his servos. "Tell her he died a coward. She'd love to hear that."

Starburst spotted the Tox-En and she made a grab for it, but Tarn was already on her, impossibly fast. He knocked her on her back and stepped on her wing, crushing the framework within. She cried out.

"You dare try to kill me? Who do you think I am?"

Starburst remained quiet and still, but a voice close to his audio snapped the silence in two. He smirked.

"I think you're a sorry mech looking to get his aft whipped."

Tarn laughed, shaking his helm. He could take on three bots at once. He had nothing to worry about. He placed all his Energon cubes on it being the whelp's carrier standing lone in the room with a weapon pointed at him.

He was only right on it being the carrier.

"Mama!"

The fuming black and purple carrier wasn't standing alone. Behind her, a dozen Seekers bristled angrily, war-hungry. He recognized Jetwing, Sonicshriek, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and her first-born trine, but the rest were a mystery to him.

"So, Tarn." The femme tilted her helm. "Feeling ready to take on the King's Army?"

The mech laughed and got off the younger femme, letting the whelp rush to her carrier. "You're all in way over your helms..." And he rushed towards the femme, the Seekers all pouncing on his back. and dragging him down.

He fought hard, breaking a few wings and arms and a leg or two, but then the number of Seekers overwhelmed him and the only thing he could do was struggle while the King's Army protected their King.

Starburst and her carrier looked Starscream over. Starburst watched as her carrier leaned her helm into Starscream's, her optics dimming and slowly closing before she sighed. "He held on way too long...we should have come sooner."

"Mama...we tried..."

She looked at her only daughter and gave a weary smile, opening her arm to accept an embrace. She hugged her close while, behind her, her brothers and sons and friends all took their turns attacking Tarn. Somewhere along, tools rapidly began disappearing off the table as Skywarp and Thundercracker collected them and plunged them deep into Tarn's arms, face, abdomen. Starburst and her carrier were uninterested.

When her carrier released her, Starburst went back to her sire, touching his neck and lifting his helm. She stroked his helm delicately, sighing. "I thought we would be together again...free and flying...he never got to teach me how to fly..."

She looked down at the needle still buried in Starscream's wrist. She sighed and pulled it out, flinching when her carrier waved her servos.

"Wait, wait, wait..."

"What?"

"Put it back in...watch his face."

Starburst, bewildered, did as she was told, and blinked as Starscream's face...changed. He winced as the needle slid back into his wrist.

"He's alive!"


	4. Chapter 4

Starscream's helm swayed gently as he was carried out of the room he had spent so much time in. He could barely focus, but he knew whose arms were around him, cradling him. "Skywarp...?"  
"Shut up," the mech breathed. "You're not supposed to be talking. We're gonna get you all patched up and then we're taking you home."

He moved his helm so it rested on his brother's arm. His insides were still outside, but Starburst was carrying a drip of Energon for him, the needle wedged in his ankle this time. Thundercracker carried his wings.

"Where are we going?"  
"Starscream..." Skywarp sighed as he walked, shaking his helm. Energon was crusting on his neck and face, but Starscream had a feeling it wasn't his or his brothers.

"I won't stop talking..."

"I figured that out. We're going onto the _Lost Light_. We've got a few surprises for you."

Starscream closed his optics with a sigh. "It better be good surprises..."

"I think you'll find them good."

 **ooo**

Starscream woke up with a jolt as cool metal pressed against his back wounds. He arched, crying out, and then there were soft servos touching his broken frame. He whimpered, then sighed as the metal under him started to warm up.

"There we go," someone purred. "I told you he'd like the heated berth."

"Enough preening, Perceptor. Let's get him patched up."

Starscream's helm rolled to see the fuming medic. "Ratchet."

"Starscream," he greeted. He touched the Seeker's helm. "We've been looking for you. Sorry it took us so long for us to show up."

"It was around the right time, I'd say," Starscream wheezed.

A medic by his ped laughed softly. "A few minutes earlier never hurt anyone."

Starscream closed his optics as he made a soft sound. He smiled.

"Alright, enough chatter. Let's get this mech all patched up."

When the medics were done, there were all sizes of bandages on the Seeker, and visitors were pressing him on all sides.

He recognized a few of the mechs, like his brothers, but a few he didn't know. And there were a few mechs he couldn't believe were actually there.

"Megatron?"

The silver mech was studying him, smiling a little. The Autobot insignia gleamed on his chest. "Hey, Starscream..."

Skywarp knelt by his brother and rubbed his helm. "He was worried sick about you. All he would whimper about was if you were okay."  
"Why?" Starscream looked at the former warlord skeptically. "So you can kill me yourself?"

"Because you two had been in a relationship when you disappeared," Thundercracker breathed. Megatron had flinched at his words and Ratchet was quick to explain.

"He probably as a few lost memories..."

"A few!?" Starscream bared his denta a little.

"And he's a little scared right now," Ratchet finished, ignoring Starscream.

Skywarp leaned his helm into Starscream's shoulder, pushing and whining. "You've been gone for so long..."

Starscream stared at Megatron. There was no fragging way he was in a relationship with the warlord. He never got into relationships...

But then he saw Starburst, wringing her servos and he sighed gently. "I've forgotten a lot."

Skywarp chuckled softly. "We can fill you in.."

A purple mech knelt in front of him, taking his servo. "Hey, Starscream. You're looking good."

Starscream blinked a little. "Cyclonus?"

He chuckled and nodded very slowly, his smile disappearing. "You've been gone a long time." He reached over and pinched Skywarp's audio, making the mech whine affectionately. "Several mechs cried for you."

Starscream scoffed and looked down at his wheeled chair, putting his servos down on the hoops used to move it on his own. He smiled a little and sighed as he moved forward on his own. Mechs and femmes jumped out of his way. He leaned his helm back as he wheeled to a stop and he rubbed his servos, whining. Pain crept up his arms to his spark and he clutched his chest. "Ow..."

Starburst knelt and took his servos, sighing. "Probably an infection."

Ratchet growled. "We cleaned it up as best as we could. If Nightscream comes back with the rest of Starscream, we'll get his claws back."

Starscream sighed and curled his claws into fists. "Is Tarn functioning?"  
Megatron snorted. "After your ex-mate and siblings got to him? Not likely." He crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. "I heard Tarn cried like a baby when Thundercracker got his servos on him."

" _Thundercracker_!" Starscream wheeled his chair around to face his youngest sibling. "Violence is never the answer!"

The blue Seeker tapped his digits together. "He made me mad..."

Starscream laughed, tipping his helm back, and then cried out as his abdomen started throbbing. He curled into a ball. "Medic! Medic!"

"You're fine, Starscream." Ratchet touched his bandaged stomach with an ice pack. "Your insides would rather be on the outside. I wouldn't be surprised if you pulled some stitches, but I don't see Energon on the bandages."

Starscream sighed. "Do I have to stay in the MedBay?"

"It's advised, but if you want to have your own quarters, well...I won't keep you in a MedBay."

"I'll stay in the MedBay..." He wheeled his chair towards the berth, touching the warm slab. "Heated berths?"

"Yeah. Percy's idea." Ratchet smiled a little and he helped him onto the berth. "I think you should sleep now. Starburst and Nightshade are going to reattach your wings."

Starscream nodded and he let the medic lift him up onto the berth and lay him on his belly. He pulled the plush pillow under his helm and he nuzzled it. He watched the medics as they worked quietly, cleaning up tools and surfaces. Starscream felt cool servos on his back and he relaxed while his wings were secured back into place, and the last thing he felt was feeling seep back into his wings.


End file.
